Scooter Gennett

Scooter Gennett
Gennett with the Cincinnati Reds in 2017
Cincinnati Reds – No. 3
Second baseman
Born: (1990-05-01) May 1, 1990
Cincinnati, Ohio
Bats: Left Throws: Right
MLB debut
June 3, 2013, for the Milwaukee Brewers
MLB statistics
(through September 20, 2018)
Batting average .291
Home runs 85
Runs batted in 349
Teams
Career highlights and awards

Ryan Joseph "Scooter" Gennett (born May 1, 1990) is an American professional baseball second baseman for the Cincinnati Reds of Major League Baseball (MLB). He previously played for the Milwaukee Brewers. On June 6, 2017, he became the 17th player in major league history to hit four home runs in a single game.

Professional career

Minor league

Gennett was drafted by the Milwaukee Brewers in the 16th round of the 2009 Major League Baseball Draft out of Sarasota High School in Sarasota, Florida.[1]

Milwaukee Brewers

Gennett playing for the Nashville Sounds, triple-A affiliates of the Brewers, in 2013

Gennett represented the Brewers at the 2012 All-Star Futures Game.[2] Less than a year later, on June 3, 2013, he was recalled from the Nashville Sounds, and made his major league debut against the Oakland Athletics. Gennett collected his first major league hit, a single to right-center, in the bottom of the ninth inning, off of pitcher Jesse Chavez, on June 5.[3] Gennett hit his first major league home run on June 14, against Bronson Arroyo, in his birthplace of Cincinnati.

Gennett was the left-handed part of a Milwaukee second base platoon (with Rickie Weeks) in 2014. The platoon ranked fourth in the National League in Wins Above Replacement at the All-Star Break.[4] Gennett did well against right-handed pitching, but keeping with what became problematic for him as he moved up through the minors, he struggled against same-handed opponents with only four hits and one walk in 37 plate appearances versus lefties through the All-Star Break.[5] On June 25, 2014, against the Washington Nationals, Gennett hit his first career grand slam off Stephen Strasburg. He finished the season in the majors.

After Weeks departed, Gennett started for the Brewers for the start of the 2015 season on Opening Day. In the game, he was the Brewers' primary second baseman. He started the season batting below .200 before going on the 15-day disabled list after cutting his hand in the shower.[6] He was sent down to the Colorado Springs Sky Sox, the new Brewers AAA team.[6] After spending about one month in the minors, he was recalled to the majors.[6] Gennett and the Brewers avoided salary arbitration on December 3, 2016, by agreeing to a one-year, $2.525 million contract for 2017.[7]

Cincinnati Reds

Gennett swinging in St. Louis, 2017.

On March 28, 2017, Gennett was claimed off of waivers by the Cincinnati Reds.[8] On April 3, 2017, Gennett hit a two-out, two-run home run in the bottom of the ninth on Opening Day against the Philadelphia Phillies.[9] On June 6, 2017, Gennett hit a record-tying four home runs (including a grand slam) and had a career-high 10 RBI against the St. Louis Cardinals. He is the 17th player in MLB history and first in Reds history to hit four home runs in a game, and the seventh to hit home runs in four consecutive at bats in the same game. In the same game, he set a club record with 17 total bases.[10] On August 14, 2017, Gennett hit his 20th home run of the season and pitched one inning. He became the second player in MLB history to hit their 20th home run of the season in the same game they pitched in (after Babe Ruth).[11] For the season, Gennett established his best career offensive season, hitting 27 home runs along with 97 RBIs and a .295 batting average.

Batting .326 with 14 home runs and 58 RBIs, Gennett was named to the 2018 Major League Baseball All-Star Game.[12] In the bottom of the ninth inning, Gennett hit a game-tying 2-run home run off Edwin Díaz, but the N.L. lost to the A.L. 8-6.

Personal life

Gennett gained his nickname[13] Scooter from the character "Scooter" on the show "Muppet Babies" after a childhood incident with the police. As a child, he would constantly remove his seat-belt while traveling in the car, angering his mother. His mother took Scooter to a police station to attempt to scare him into keeping the seat-belt on. When the policeman asked Gennett his name, he replied 'Scooter'; his mother asked him, 'Where did you come up with that?' He replied, 'The Muppets', and has gone by that name since.[14]

In 2017 Scooter was nominated for the Roberto Clemente Award for his efforts with the Athletes Brand charity campaign titled "K Poverty." Athletes Brand and Food for the Hungry partnered with Major League Baseball Players to help end poverty in the Dominican Republic.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Brewers prospect Scooter Gennett more than measures up".
  2. ↑ "Gennett not too small for Futures Game".
  3. ↑ "Oakland Athletics at Milwaukee Brewers Box Score, June 5, 2013". Baseball Reference. Retrieved 14 July 2017.
  4. ↑ "National League Team Stats » 2014 » Second Basemen » Dashboard - FanGraphs Baseball".
  5. ↑ "Scooter Gennett » Splits » 2014 » Batting - FanGraphs Baseball".
  6. 1 2 3 Watson, Phil. "Brewers: Scooter Gennett off to solid re-start". Dairyland Express. Retrieved June 16, 2015.
  7. ↑ Adams, Steve; Todd, Jeff (December 3, 2016). "Players Avoiding Arbitration: Friday". mlbtraderumors.com. Retrieved December 3, 2016.
  8. ↑ "Reds claim Gennett off waivers from Brewers".
  9. ↑ Kay, Joe (2017-04-04). "Phillies top Reds 4-3 in '17 opener - Madison Courier". Madison Courier. Retrieved 2017-04-07.
  10. ↑ Associated Press (7 June 2017). "Scooter Gennett hits 4 home runs for Reds to tie MLB record". ESPN. Retrieved 7 June 2017.
  11. ↑ "Reds' Scooter Gennett, Babe Ruth have something unique in common". WLWT5. August 15, 2017. Retrieved 5 September 2017.
  12. ↑ https://www.cincinnati.com/story/sports/mlb/reds/2018/07/08/reds-all-stars-include-scooter-gennett-joey-votto-eugenio-suarez/766820002/
  13. ↑ "Brewers Scooter reveals story behind his nickname". Retrieved 2017-07-30.
  14. ↑ Refer to transcript of Giant's/Red's game played August 17, 2018; Giant's radio broadcaster related the story.
Achievements
Preceded by
Josh Hamilton		 Batters with four home runs in one game
June 6, 2017		 Succeeded by
J. D. Martinez
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